A situation that ended with Des Moines County Sheriff’s Deputy Al Waterman being terminated began with a text message.

Waterman texted a fellow officer that people at Mediapolis High School had seen that officer running a stop sign and asked him to be more careful. However when pressed by superiors, he refused to disclose the names of the students that had told him what they had seen, citing a promise to keep their names confidential.

"My word is bond," Waterman explained on the stand.

Prior to being discharged, Waterman, who is running for sheriff, served as the School Resource Officer for Mediapolis School District. Waterman appealed his termination and as a result a hearing was held beginning Wednesday in front of the Civil Service Commission to determine whether Waterman was lawfully terminated.

Waterman, who had been a deputy for more than a decade, was moved to being a SRO in August when the department added a second school resource position. He was recommended for that position by Cory Whitaker, whom Waterman said ran stop signs in front of the school.

Prior to August 2019, Whitaker was responsible for both Danville and Mediapolis School districts. However, with the new position Whitaker was only the SRO for Danville. He still taught Drug and Alcohol Resistance Education at Mediapolis School District.

According to Waterman, three individuals, which he would later identify as students, had seen Whitaker roll through stop signs. Waterman said he felt this was important enough to mention to Whitaker because Waterman was working with students on having better driving habits around the school.

After receiving a text message from Waterman, Whitaker called Waterman up to ask about the allegations. Whitaker also asked who had made the allegations about him running the stop sign. At that point, Whitaker said Waterman’s story changed for the first time.

"I had a gut feeling that he was being dishonest," Whitaker said.

Whitaker said it bugged him he was being accused of something which he believed had not happened. Whitaker said he spoke with his wife and his brother about what to do in the situation. The next day he told Lt. Chad McCune, his supervisor, he had gotten the text message and asked for a mediation.

Whitaker said he wanted to be written up if he had run stop signs, but in the end he did not believe he had done anything wrong.

At the mediation, Whitaker ended up asking Waterman to at least tell their supervisor who made the complaints and he left the room.

According to McCune, after Whitaker left, Waterman shut the door and revealed that at a football game Whitaker had walked right past Waterman without saying anything. McCune told Waterman not all co-workers will get along or be friends outside of work, but what is important is co-workers can maintain a working relationship.

McCune also testified he asked Waterman to ask the individuals if he could reveal their names. Waterman disputed this on the stand.

But the failed mediation session was not the end of the investigation. McCune explained any allegation of misconduct against an officer legally must be investigated. Five days later, McCune had asked for Waterman to give him the names as he requested. Waterman refused again.

Eventually the incident turned from an investigation into Whitaker running a stop sign into an investigation into whether Waterman had made up the allegation.

There was a disagreement between Waterman and Lt. Clint Williams, who conducted the investigation into Waterman’s alleged misconduct, about whether Whitaker had stopped at the stop signs on the day in question.

The alleged traffic violation was captured on camera but due to the low frame rate of the video Williams said it is impossible to tell if a traffic violation had occurred. Williams explained videos are actually a series of still shots which are lace together into a moving picture.

Williams said an average movie has 24 frames per second, however the cameras at the Mediapolis High School only record at one frame per second.

Williams said Whitaker’s car may have made a stop at the stop signs, but it is impossible to tell. He said Whitaker could have been stopped for up to two seconds without the camera picking it up. Waterman, however said the video showed Whitaker had continued on a path of travel without stopping for stop signs.

The video was not possible to view for those watching at home.

A further investigation could not turn up any proof anyone had spoken to Waterman the day he texted Whitaker. Eventually Waterman would tell several different stories about who had reported what to him and when. Eventually, Waterman was fired for insubordination, failing to report misconduct of another officer and being unprofessional.

However, according to Waterman’s defense this was not the first time Whitaker had been accused of breaking traffic laws in 2020.

Early in the year, Whitaker was stopped for speeding on Danville Black Top by a fellow sheriff’s deputy.

"He stopped you for speeding, didn’t he?" asked Curt Dial, Waterman’s attorney.

Whitaker said he did not recall speeding but said he was driving home on the way to a birthday party for his son. He was driving his personal vehicle and wearing civilian clothing when he was pulled over.

Whitaker said he had a brief conversation with the deputy about why he had been pulled over and nothing else was made of this incident and he did not report it to his supervisor.

Whitaker said he did not take an allegation of something that happened when he was off duty as seriously as something that allegedly happened when he was in uniform and performing his official duties.

When asked why Waterman would accuse Whitaker of something he did not do, Whitaker said he had no idea.

The first day of testimony wrapped up with witnesses still left for the side of the sheriff’s department. The case will continue at 8 a.m. Thursday. Waterman has yet to call witnesses and his attorney did not make an opening statement.